The World Could Always Use More Heroes
by sandstorm7
Summary: Tracer's never been one to think things through before doing them. Even with the illegal reformation of Overwatch hanging over her head, she still can't help but make things a little more complicated. Well, rehabilitating Talon's deadliest assassin can't be THAT big of a fuss though...right?


"Lena," Winston said with a heavy sigh, "you've...done a lot of things over the years, but this is probably your most... Umm..."

"Daring?" Lena innocently suggested, still wearing the uniform the world knew Tracer for, goggles hanging around her neck. "Audacious?"

"Something like that..."

Behind the two of them as they argued, strapped onto an upright gurney for the time being (hardly the best means of restraining her), was the Widowmaker: Talon's most skilled operative, responsible for the death of Captain Amari, responsible for the assassination of Tekhartha Mondatta, responsible for the murders _so many_ people, and she was _not_ amused by her current predicament. How she had even gotten into it in the first place was beyond her. Damn Brit somehow got lucky: quick blow to the head. Once she found a way to free herself, she'd make that cheeky excuse for a soldier _regret_ being tethered to reality...or however that thing strapped onto her chest worked.

Lena sighed in exasperation. "Just _tell_ me the problem, Winston!"

"Th-the _problem_!" Winston blurted. "Is that you've brought _Widowmaker_ , to our _only_ secure base of operations! And we don't have any reliable way of holding her!"

"It _was_ rather short-sighted of you," the assassin airily joined in from behind. "Typical."

"You stay out'a this!" Lena demanded.

Widowmaker sighed and muttered something in French. Lena could only guess what it was. Something insulting or condescending. Probably both.

She _did_ have a point though, as did Winston. Watchpoint Gibraltar was the one place all past Overwatch agents were called to after Reaper's attack, the only base the PETRAS Act promised to leave alone. Reinhardt, Genji, Jesse, Torbjorn, and Angela had all answered the call to action, but none of them had returned quite yet unfortunately. Reinhardt and Torbjorn were both still more in the north side of Europe, Genji in Japan for reasons he didn't want to explain, Jesse somewhere in America doing whatever he did, and Angela in the Middle East, doing what _she_ did: feeding and healing those in need. Lena almost wanted her to stay where she was. All of them to be honest.

"If only _one_ other person made it here," Winston mumbled, running one of his big ape hands over his head, "then I might be able to relax a bit easier. We need a _team_ , not just a...duo."

Lena felt the realization catch up to her. She swallowed. She heard Commander Morrison's old advice ruminating in the back of her head. _"You need to learn to focus._ _Slow down. Think of what could happen before you do something._ _"_ She'd scoffed and called him "dad" for being so naggy, brushed him off. But now here she was, holding the most dangerous woman on the planet in her organization's only hope for rebuilding. In its _command center_. Winston's _home_.

Damn. They _did_ have a point.

At least she and Winston had agreed to not speak their location's name. It was tough, but they couldn't slip up, lest Widowmaker have some way of transmitting where she was to Talon.

But, they already knew Gibraltar existed. Reaper attacked just weeks ago. Did they have a tracker on Widowmaker? Were troops on their way right now?!

But, wait... It'd taken Lena and Winston a long while to return to Gilbratar. Maybe Talon... _didn't_ care to rescue her? Surely they could've intercepted them if they'd wanted to. If Widowmaker was caught so easily, did they think she was worthless to them now? What kind of an organization _was_ Talon?

"Welp!" Winston said, clasping his hands together. "I guess our hands are...pretty full, until the others arrive! Hah-hah, hah!" He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "Until then, um...what are we going to do with... _her_? We certainly can't _keep_ her like this...can we?"

Lena turned around and looked at their captive as well. She hadn't seemed to move or make any attempts at escape since they tied her down, seeming...oddly calm rather than hostile. She wasn't even trying to struggle.

 _The_ real _reason I brought her here..._

"Her _name_ ," Lena said, "is Amelie Lacroix."

She felt Widowmaker tense up from across the room. She wasn't sure if that was good or not.

"What?" Winston asked.

"Amelie," Lena went on, turning to Winston, "the wife of Gerard Lacroix."

Winston furrowed his brow, but then his eyes widened at that second name, looking at Widowmaker again. "I... _No_... But, she... Reports say she got _killed_. They _both_ got killed! Right?"

"Amelie only must've gotten kidnapped," Lena said sadly, looking at the assassin. "Something happened to her. She's...not like she used to be anymore..."

"Yeah," Winston agreed. "She's purple."

Lena would've laughed. "Yeah, that too. It's...so weird. All the information we ever had on her was that she was a dancer back home, a ballerina, and then she married Gerard."

"She has no military background _at all_?" Winston asked.

Lena shook her head. "Nothing, and Overwatch's old databases were pretty extensive. The only thing we can know for sure is...Talon's the one to blame."

"You're saying Talon kidnapped her and... _changed_ her?" Winston asked.

Lena nodded, looking up at him. "I have no idea why, but...they did, and I don't wanna imagine how." She sighed. "What I'm _tryin_ ' to say is...Amelie must still be in there somewhere." She smiled, growing determined. "And...I think it's up to _us_ get her out."

It broke Lena's heart to see Winston's face envelope with fear instead of determination. He slowly looked over at the assassin.

"But...Lena, there's...so much blood on her hands..."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Widowmaker crooned, smirking as she laid bound.

"I know, Winston," Lena admitted, grimacing a bit. "She killed Ana, a- _and_ Mondatta, but...we can't _blame_ her. I mean... _she_ didn't do it! She's been _brainwashed_ for cryin' out loud!"

Winston faltered. "B-Be that as it may, she's still a threat we can't take lightly. We...can't really _trust_ her! Besides, I... I don't think we _can_ help her..."

"You helped _me_ ground myself back in reality," Lena implored. "I would've been a completely different person if it wasn't for you! What makes _her_ any different?"

"I-I helped you as a friend! Not your therapist!"

"You _were_ kinda like a therapist for me!" Lena said with a smile. She shrugged, growing a little sheepish. "Maybe a...friend of two is what can fix what happened to her? Snap her out of it?"

Winston didn't disagree with her, but his glances at Widowmaker didn't seem very convinced. "I... I'm an engineer! Not a psychologist, not even a _biologist_! _Angela's_ the only one that could _start_ making any leeway with...neurosciences!"

"Why _can't_ you?" Lena asked. "The brain's a lot like a machine, isn't it? It has ways of doing things, ways that get broken... Ways that can be repaired!"

"I... I don't know," Winston said, shaking his head and turning away, not wanting part in this. "There's just too many variables. I-I _want_ to help her, Lena, but...who's to say we miscalculate? What if we do something _wrong_ and...make her _worse_?"

" _Winston_ ," Lena said gently, getting his attention. "Don't just accept her for what she is..." She walked back towards Widowmaker, and put a hand on the gurney. "Dare to see her...for what she _could_ be."

Winston's apprehensive expressions instantly melted away at hearing his old mentor's words. He looked down, grimacing in guilt, eyes moving in thought. He opened his mouth once or twice to speak, but only sighed.

"I... Alright. I'll start some tests and see what I can do. This really _is_ more Angela's field than mine, so hopefully we'll be able to make some actual progress together once she and all the others get back."

" _Yes_!" Lena exclaimed, hopping happily and hugging her old friend. " _Thank_ you, Winston!"

He smiled and patted her back. "I'm doing this for you, Lena," he said to her in her arms. "And...for Gerard, and Amelie as well. Hopefully she's not dead like we all thought she was. Hopefully she...really is still in there, somewhere."

"I guess that's all I can ask for," Lena said with a nod. She glanced at one of the computer monitors, at the time. It was two. "I'll go check the perimeter quick?" she asked. They made it routine. Didn't want any smugglers trespassing, or PETRAS just appearing at their door one day demanding their arrest after the recall. Hopefully they still had no idea.

"Be here when you get back," Winston agreed with a nod.

"Right-o, Commander."

Winston emitted a single chuckle of wary pride at carrying that title now.

As he padded his way to one of his desks, Lena walked to the door, pushing a panel and it sliding open. She found herself smiling.

This could be it. This could be the key to crippling Talon. Reaper was still wreaking havoc, but now with their star assassin out of their reach? Fighting _against_ them? That would hinder them all the more.

 _Well, maybe she won't fight for us,_ Lena pondered with a frown, _or even_ with _us. She_ was _just a ballerina before what happened to her. If we can revert what they did to her all the way, she might not even know how to fire a_ gun _properly._

Lena glanced back before she walked out. Winston was walking up to Widowmaker, holding a clipboard, beginning the most rudimentary of psychological exams.

"So," he asked, "um...how are you feeling today?"

Widowmaker sighed and rolled her eyes, leaning her head back. "Les choses pourraient être mieux..."

"Um...I don't speak much French, miss."

"C'est pourquoi c'est drôle, mon singe."

 _I suppose it's best we fix her all the way,_ Lena thought with a small sigh. _She's just a normal person deep down, not a soldier. But if not, if we can only at least make her nice, I'm sure she'd make a_ _great Overwatch agent._

 _After all,_ she concluded with a little smile, jogging out of the command center, _the world could always use more heroes._

* * *

 **NOTES:** I finally caved. I finally wrote an Overwatch fic lol. Surprised I haven't sooner.

So wow, got lots to say: I've had this idea and more bubbling around my head for a long while. I actually have a LOT of Overwatch ideas tbh. This just felt best to open with, even though I feel pretty late to the Tracer & Widow party, not to mention Bliz themselves are already making strides towards Amelie breaking free from her mind-control. Like, wow. I'm proud. Hopes to the future that something great happens for her :) Also I'm pretty sure that's French I wrote there at the end. Hopefully it actually means something lol. French isn't my strong suit, it's weird to me...

I will admit this single chapter is leaving off at a very promising place, but I have...no idea where to take it in the long run. I don't think I can handle or deliver on making a whole Amelie-rehabilitation novel if that's what you were expecting. Fervent apologies I understand that feel ;_; I'm sure there's more extensive stuff out there like this already. I only have a Widow breaking-out scene only to want to stay with Overwatch, and then (after she's fully become Amelie again) her breaking down in guilt after all she's done and getting a little pep talk from Tracer. Mayhaps this can just become a little Amelie and Lena fluff-dump if I'm given any further ideas? The only thing I have set in stone is that nothing's set in stone lol.

Guess I should share all my other Overwatch ideas too. If any of them sound worthwhile, just say the word and I'll push them up my time table! I've got Mercy confronting Soldier 76 after he joins Overwatch and finding out who he is (spoiler alert it's Jack), Zarya turning in Sombra to the Russian government, only to find out that Katya Volskaya only wants revenge for the blackmail fiasco (that one's really serious omg i can't), present-day Jack trying to get McCree's help to prove Overwatch's innocence (think the scene in Civil War where Cap finally meets Bucky in his apartment), Zenyatta teaching Genji stuff in Nepal as he comes to terms with his cyberization (a longer more installment-esque one of wisdoms) with possibly some Genji and Mercy fluff too along with it if I become swayed to as well. Heck, the love-birds might even get their own fluff dump in the future. Mayhaps just some Golden Age shenanigans too if I'm suggested a cute scenario, with little Fareeha, younger Jesse, pre-Reaper Gabe, all that good fuzzy stuff.

Also, I haven't forgotten my Korra fics, I just keep getting hit with writer's block after writer's block and life problem after life problem. Things are shaping up quite nicely for Book 5 though, much more full and well-rounded. I'm probably gonna make a push one of these days and just plunge through all my edits and Kuvira fluff chapter ideas. If demand gets high, I just might have to cave early.

Would like to write another Guardians of the Galaxy happy-Nebula fic too...

Idk what I want lol. Hope you enjoyed :)


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